Mt Vernon AE insert pellet consumption

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nhhawks

New Member
Nov 24, 2008
3
south east maine
Can anyone out there tell me how many bags of pellets they are going through in a 24 hr. period with the Mt Vernon AE insert? I had my thermostat set to hardwood pellets (as my pellets are 95% hardwood) and it seems to be gong through about 2 to 2 1/2 bags in 24 hrs. I called the place I bought it and they suggested switching the thermostat to utility pellets setting. I did this and I found that it actually burned about the same (maybe a little more) and did not get the same heat out put from that setting. I went back to the hardwood setting after a week. My dealer said I should only be going through about a bag or maybe 60 lbs in 24 hrs when it is really cold. Does anyone have any suggestions.
 
My AE goes through 2 to 3 bags per day. This is running constantly on High at the manual setting. I have been keeping it on the softwood setting since it seems to stay on the longest between the autoclean cycles.
 
Those figures sound right for the cold days of winter. Given that an insert is slightly less efficient than a stove (in most cases), I would guess at 4 lbs per hour - which is 2 1/2 bags a day, you are getting about 18-20,000 BTU per hour output. That is about the size of a larger kerosene heater or a decent woodstove on a medium setting.
 
Jack, that's alot of pellets for 1 day.....
 
That's about average for this stove. The feed rate is 1.7lb/hr to 7.0lbs/hr. This would translate into 40lbs per day on the lowest setting to 168 lbs on high. The output equals around 14,600 BTU's on low up to 50,000 BTU's. Assuming the stove is burning hardwood pellets on a medium output setting all day you should expect to consume 4.5 lbs/hr. or 2.5 bags per day.
 
I'm in Southern Connecticut, and the week of New Years it was pretty cold (down around 10 degrees at night and 20 in the day). I have a 3000 foot colonial with 2x6 insulation with an AE insert. I only heat the first floor (second floor is on oil with a separate zone). I about a bag a day with using hardwood setting and temp set around 70 for most of the day (auto setting).
 
I can easily go through 2 1/2 to 3 bags a day when it is extremely cold and or windy outside.
 
Webmaster said:
Those figures sound right for the cold days of winter. Given that an insert is slightly less efficient than a stove (in most cases), I would guess at 4 lbs per hour - which is 2 1/2 bags a day, you are getting about 18-20,000 BTU per hour output. That is about the size of a larger kerosene heater or a decent woodstove on a medium setting.

Why is an insert less efficient than a stove?
 
Mine is basically on 24/7 with the exception of the autoclean and i burn through 3.5 bags per day. I am in the manual mode, have the setting on high and my flame height at 5. This sucker is maxed out!! But it beats the alternative of propane. I've gone through almost 3 tons so far with only 2 to go. I hope I don't need more.
 
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